Labor has ignored the rights of elderly Queenslanders in retirement villages and homes

Labor has ignored the rights of the elderly

Retirement villages and homes review shelved under Labor over the past three years

LNP wants adequate consumer protection measures put in place

Yet again, the Palaszczuk Labor Government has been caught reviewing rather than doing on the issues that matter to Queenslanders.

After almost three years of ignoring reforms that were ready to implement when she came to government, Annastacia Palaszczuk suddenly cares about the rights of elderly Queenslanders in retirement villages and homes.

I am appalled by Labor’s gross incompetence and outright disrespect for our seniors and I question why it has taken the Palaszczuk Government so long to finally address this issue on behalf of the 42,000 Queenslanders living in retirement villages, residential parks and aged rental complexes.

I have personally met and represented the concerns of many elderly people who are seeking protection and fighting for their rights as residents of retirement villages and manufactured homes.

The LNP began a review of retirement villages in 2012, reported the findings of that review to Parliament in 2013 and was busy implementing those reforms prior to the 2015 election.

In a 2015 submission to a Qld Parliamentary Inquiry into the adequacy of protections for seniors' financial arrangements, National Seniors - one of the peak bodies for seniors - recommended the State Government:

'Continue the review and implement the changes to the Manufactured Homes (Residential Parks) Act 2003 and the Retirement Villages Act 1999 to ensure that adequate consumer protection measures are in place'.

Labor didn't do this and instead has wasted almost three years doing another review – just one of more than 200 reviews under this do-nothing Premier.

Our seniors who have contributed so much to our State deserve to be able to live in peace and secure in the fact that they are provided with appropriate consumer protection, rather than having to battle for their individual rights as residents of retirement villages and manufactured homes.